File for letters



(No Model.)

H. E. HESSELTINE.

FILE FOR LETTERS.

No. 394,981. Patented Dec. 25, 1888.

wW'W/JO M NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT E. l-IESSELTINE, OF CASENOVIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO SIDNEY F. STEVENS, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

FILE FOR LETTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,981, dated December 25, 1888.

Application filed December 13, 1886. Serial No. 221,477. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT E. HESSEL- TINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the village of Oasenovia, in the county of Muskegon and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful File for Letters and Papers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of files in which the letters and papers are so held as to permit easy removal; and its object is to provide a file that will hold them so securely that accidental removal or displacement will be impossible, and yet will permit any paper I 5 easily and quickly to be removed when desired, thus making a file suitable for both temporary and permanent use. This object I attain by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of the file closed; Fig. 2, aperspective view of the same from the inside open; Fig. 3, an end plan when the file is partly open, so as to permit the contents to be inspected; Fig. i, an end plan when the same is fully open, so as to permit the contents to be removed; and Fig. 5, a plan view of the inside of the back of the file.

In the drawings, A A are the covers, and

B the back, which at each side projects for- Q ward, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, by the parts band I), and is then attached to the covers by the hinges a a a, &c. The back thus, when in the position shown in Fig. 3, forms a shallow box open at the front and having pro- 3 5 jecting from the side to which cover A is attached a row of sharpened pins, cl d d, &c., and projecting from the other side, far enough to overlap pins (Z (l (I, the binding-strip e, as shown. The part b of the back is rigidly at- 0 tached to the main part of the back B; but the part b is attached to B by thehinges on, so that it will open when the cover A is fully opened, as shown in Fig. i. The bindingstrip 6, I construct of tin, soldered to the side 4 5 h and extending its entire length, as shown in Fig. 5; but it may be of any suitable material and form sufficient to bind the ends of the pins (1 d (I, and prevent the papers being removed therefrom. A series of lugs or similar devices, one opposite each pin, would answer the same purpose, though not so etficiently. Attached to the ends of the backare clasps n n, (shown in Fig. 5,) adapted to be bent forward and over the ends of side I),

as shown in Fig. 1, and when so clasped the side I) is held rigidly in position, corresponding to that of side I). I also attach, if desired,

a blank index, which may be bound to cover A by the strip D. (Shown in Fig. 1.)

The operation of my invention is as follows: The file is fully opened, the clasps a n being bent back, and the covers assume, substantially, the relative positions shown in Fig. 4, leaving free the ends of pins cl (Z d. The papers to be filed are then put upon the pins, so that these pass through the paper along a line near one margin. All the papers then to be filed, having been thus inserted, the side 1) is-bent forward at right angles to B, and the binding-strip c then projects down, so as to overlap the pins, as shown in Fig. 3. By the use of the clasps n n the side I) is then looked in this position, and the papers cannot be detached except by reversing the processjust described. The hinges a a a, &c., permit the covers to open freely without exposing the ends of the pins.

It is obvious that other similar devices may be substituted for those described for the purposes of retaining the papers in the case and attaching and holding together the different parts of the back and cover, and I do not wish to limit myself to the particular forms shown; but

hat I claim to have invented, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a letter-file, the combination of a back, a rigid cover secured with its inner edge to one edge of the back and having a series of pins near the inner edge projecting across the inner face of the back, a side hinged to the other edge of the back and provided with a locking-strip upon. its inner side engaging the ends of the pins, and with means for looking it at a right angle to the back, and a cover hinged to the outer edge of the side, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a letter-file, the combination of the back 13, having end pieces, Z), the cover A, having pins d, the hinged side Z), having locking- IOO strips 6, the rigid cover A, and the clasps a, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2-3. A letter-file provided with the hinged |i he files, the hinged side [1, provided with 10 eever A and rigid coverA, The backlimeans means for leekiiig said file-holding devices, for holding the files, and the index-clamping and H10 ("ever A, hing-ed in the said side Ii, strip D, secured upon the inner side 01: said substzmi izdly as (IOSCI'HNH. ri id cover A at the inner ed e thereof and I w s ,H i s i i i y adapted to heldan index-sheet$etween it and 1 'uhhlhhl [I Ithhkl l Ix said rigid (rover, Slllffiffl litjil uy described.

Witnesses:

4. In a 1ei=ter-fi1e,i1he eombiimtion of the ARTHUR C. DENISON, back B, The rigid (-everA, deviees ferhelding GEORGE CLAr'PEirruN. 

